


The Tale of a Love Life

by AndyWBlackstorn



Series: Through Chrissie's eyes (alternative universe) [40]
Category: Bohemian Rhapsody (Movie 2018), Queen (Band)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Interview, Modern Era, Relationship Review, Romance, Through Chrissie's eyes, through Chrissie's eyes verse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-26
Updated: 2020-01-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:34:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22421143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndyWBlackstorn/pseuds/AndyWBlackstorn
Summary: Brian and Chrissie recall many details of their journey together for a special documentary. (takes place in the alternative universe of Through Chrissie's eyes.)
Relationships: Brian May/Chrissie Mullen
Series: Through Chrissie's eyes (alternative universe) [40]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1324115
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	The Tale of a Love Life

**Author's Note:**

> This story takes place in the alternate universe of Through Chrissie's eyes

"Hello to all who watches us at that moment. I'm Melanie Shelf and this is a special show from ITV, in which we received two great personalities from the history of rock. One is Queen's legendary guitarist, Dr. Brian May, yes, doctor, in addition to being a musician, he is a graduate astrophysicist. Next to him, Christine Mullen May, or more commonly known as Chrissie May, graduated in Pedagogy from Maria Assumpta College, personal assistant to Dr. May, official member of Queen's advisory and also wife of the band's guitarist for 45 years. Today, they will tell us a little about their lives and how they achieved this impressive marital stability. Ladies and gentlemen, Dr. and Mrs. May! Welcome."

"Hi, thanks" Brian says and smiles.

"Hello" says Chrissie right after, looking ahead and then at the host.

"Well, before anything, I think it would be very cliché if I asked right away what your secret is, we will get there eventually, but I would like to highlight your costumes" begins Melanie.

"Ok" Brian nods.

Chrissie is confused. She looks at her own shirt and understands what the host means. Mrs. May's T-shirt has a print with the words "WE WILL ROCK YOU". Brian's vest has a large cursive "C" embroidered on the back.

"Your union starts with your outfits" Melanie resumes.

"Yeah, I think it was a little on purpose on my part" Brian confesses with a chuckle.

"I think I was more accidentally, but kind of unconsciously?" Chrissie responds in turn - do you know when you wear an outfit that makes you feel more comfortable? I think that's what I did, when I read that phrase, I remember Brian and it automatically makes me feel good."

"That was lovely" Melanie comments, moved "We will rock you", in fact, it will be one of our topics later on, but I really want to start from the beginning, let's try to trace a timeline in your relationship. So, when did you first meet? What were you doing with your life just before you met?"

"That's a good question" Brian comments, looking at his wife, seeing that she prefers him to start "well, I was in college, Chrissie too, but I was studying at Imperial College, studying physics, and at the same time playing at Smile, which was the band that anticipated Queen, and one day we did a show at Chrissie's college, that's when I met her."

"Well in my case, there are some details I can add, I'm not naturally from London, I moved from Leeds here, to study, and my friend Jo was Roger's girlfriend at the time, Roger, the band's drummer. It was Jo who insisted that I go to the concert, Smile had a certain popularity in my college, but I wasn't much to leave, until today I'm not. Anyway, Jo introduced me to Roger first, and after the concert ended, Jo and I met the boys and that's when Brian and I met."

"So it was the first time you saw each other?" Melanie asks and the couple nods "and how did they feel? It was love at first sight?"

"Oh no, not for me at first" Chrissie puts a lock of hair behind her ear as she confesses "but I connected to Brian right away, we left after that show, with everyone, but we had the chance to talk alone and that's when we saw that we had things in common, but it wasn't love yet."

"I remember that conversation, we looked at the sky, we talked about the stars and the more I heard Chrissie talk about her, the more I was enchanted" Brian remembers "that day when I got home I was thinking, "how is it have I never met someone like her before? "

"So, who fell in love first was Brian?" Melanie looks directly at Chrissie when she asks.

"Yes, yes" answers Mrs. May "I'm going to let him win this, but yes, it's true, because he had the initiative to ask me for a date, and when he told me how he felt about me, I had a revelation, analyzed my own feelings and I finally realized that I felt the same. I can't say exactly when I fell in love with Brian, but I'm sure he fell in love first."

"Very romantic" Melanie commented and went on "so when you were dating there was still no Queen, but you were already part of Smile, only after Freddie Mercury and John Deacon joined the band."

"Yeah, that's what happened" Brian confirms "Tim was our bassist and main vocalist when he decided to change bands, so we met Freddie and he volunteered to join the band, but he didn't play bass, so we looked for several bassists until I met John."

"And Chrissie, you followed this whole process, right? You were already friends with Roger, what was it like when you met John and Freddie?"

"Ah yes, I was a fan of Smile and then Queen, consequently" Chrissie chuckled "and I remember when Brian told of Tim's departure and Freddie's entrance, Freddie came to our apartment the day after a rehearsal, and I I remember how cautious and polite he was to me, at the time I felt that he was a little lonely, and very determined too, then I saw his friendship with Bri grow more and more, however much they sometimes disagreed, they had something in common, being perfectionists and even today they are like that. As for John, he was always shy, it took a while for him to get along with us, but he got on well with Brian and me right away."

"So you are very close to the band, long before being an advisor, on a close friendship level?" Melanie wanted to know.

"Ah yes, I got attached to the boys, I always called them that, the four, John, Roger, Freddie and Brian, as much as they are no longer boys" Chrissie explains "I really consider the boys as my brothers, really, we were always close to each other, our families were always friends, our children grew up together ..."

"We are a family" Brian adds.

"Yeah, that's what we are, Queen family" Chrissie agrees.

"So, Brian your wife is very close to your great friends" concludes Melanie "has there ever been a time when you were jealous of her with them?"

"Oh no," Brian shakes his head and laughs "seriously, by no means, Chrissie is someone very open to people, it's her nature to help and advise, so it's very comforting for me to have this support from my wife and that my friends also have this support."

"Sometimes Roger even calls me mother because of my concern, since when I met him," Chrissie comments.

"Yeah, Roger was like a naughty boy, he still is, sometimes" Brian adds.

"Well, I would like to ask you now about your wedding" Melanie continues with her agenda "there is a story that many doubt is true, I believe it's real, to be honest, about the marriage proposal. Brian, is it true that you proposed to Chrissie after a concert?"

"It's completely true, a lot of people doubt it, I don't know why, maybe because it's an unusual thing, but it's something common nowadays, marriage proposals in the middle of concerts and everything" Brian confirms "my initial idea was to do the proposal as discreetly as possible, but Freddie, Roger and John insisted a lot and they gave me this idea and I ended up agreeing. It was at my college, Imperial College, we were promoting our first album, so at the end, I asked Chrissie to go on stage and I was scared to death that she wouldn't go there."

"But you went up, didn't you?" Melanie asks, looking at Chrissie.

"Yes, I did" smiled Mrs. May "I thought I was going to pass out, that I couldn't stand all those people looking at me, but luckily and thank God, Brian made the request himself away from the microphones, he only spoke to me, and that's when I accepted it, it was very exciting ."

"And the next year you were married" Melanie points out "in May 1974."

"That's right" Brian confirms.

"At that point in the story Chrissie, you become the wife of a celebrity" says Melanie "what is the feeling that it makes you feel? Since that time, until today?"

"Uh ... It's certainly something complex and so my feeling about the fame of Bri and the boys has changed over the years" Chrissie explains "in the beginning, before they were successful, I loved being with them, accompanying them, hoping that their dreams come true, vibrating with each new achievement, only with the fame came all the attention of the media and the public and nothing prepares you to deal with it, that's when I felt a little suffocated, a little lost, because until then I was an ordinary person, a simple teacher and then everything changed, but I had the opportunity to talk to Brian about it, how I felt and then he reassured me, he said that sometimes he felt the same awkwardness as me, so we supported each other in the middle of that situation, and now, being the wife of Queen's guitarist is something much easier, but it has always been a privilege."

Brian kisses Chrissie's hand before Melanie continues. The interviewer smiles at the affectionate gesture.

"And for the band's fame to go through, the songs and records were needed before" Melanie changes the subject "and Queen has many hits, "Bohemian Rhapsody", "We are The Champions", "We will Rock You", these three are known worldwide, and about We Will Rock You, in particular, it was a Brian composition, right? And were you there when they recorded those songs, Chrissie?"

"Oh, I was, most of the time" answers Mrs. May "mainly in the beginning, when the boys started recording the demos, then I followed even more as Brian's assistant, and "We Will Rock You" is interesting because you know, it's all marked by the clapping hands, and on the day it was recorded, Brian wanted as many people as possible to clap hands along, and I was one of the first to kind of volunteer for it, he had shown me the song before the recording, so I understood what it would be like, I helped show others what to do, so yes, I helped record one of Queen's greatest songs."

"And how do you feel about that?" asks the interviewer.

"I am proud of the boys, I was just a little piece inside every gear, but it was gratifying to leave a little mark of mine there" Chrissie says smiling.

"Well, you have kids, three right?" Melanie goes on with the interview.

"Three beautiful children" Chrissie confirms with a smile.

"They are adults now, my love, but yes, they will always be our children" Brian agrees.

"And how was the childhood of the three? Were they very involved with the band and everything or did you raise them a little bit away from this world?" Melanie asks.

"Ah yes, so Jimmy is the oldest, Louisa the middle one and Emily, our youngest" describes their mother "Jimmy and Lou is 4 years apart from Lou and Emily is 6 years and from Jim to Em are 10 years apart. When Jim was born, I was already Brian's assistant, and in the beginning I took him everywhere with me and he was a very quiet baby, it even seemed like he knew that Dad and Mom were working and Jim was always very understanding with his father's work, I did it with the girls too, took them to the studio on occasion."

"And you also took the children on tours, there are many pictures of them with you, from that time" Melanie adds "how did you balance work trips and taking care of your children?"

"Yeah, we made a point of taking care of them personally, especially when they were so small" Brian replies "it was like that until they reached school age, then I would go on tour without Chrissie and she would stay at home with the children. It didn't last long because when Jim started school, we took that year off, then we did the Magic Tour in 1986, then in 1998, the kids were older, so they were pretty much well alone, but Chrissie stayed with them because of school period. That's how we handled it."

"And these kids eventually grew up" says Melanie while looking at a file "your eldest son Jimmy married Rory Taylor, daughter of Roger Taylor, who is in your family as you said before, Louisa is married to Gwilym Lee, who played Brian in the Queen movie, and Emily is married to lawyer Justin Alford. How was it for you to see your kids approaching spouses, especially Rory and Gwilym, because she was always close to your family and he's the actor who played Brian then, what can you say about that?"

"Well, we ..." Brian feels a little scared by the question.

"I think that first of all, we as parents, we were impressed how fast our children grew" Chrissie replies "you know, one day they are just babies and the next, they are already falling in love for the first time and after this initial shock, everything you do is advise and hope they are happy. Jimmy and Rory really were always very close, they were childhood friends, so we always expected them to be together, and we were very happy with it, Rory was always like a daughter to us. Gwilym and Louisa, well, they became friends, because she went to visit the movie set with us once, and they saw how much they had in common and fell in love, and it was beautiful, it's beautiful to see our children happy, Emily and Justin met in college, they were friends there, then they took different paths, but ended up meeting again."

"It was fate, then," says Melanie.

"Yeah, I think so" Chrissie nods.

"Well, since we talk about the family, I wanted to know what you like to do together? Do you have a hobby or something?" Melanie asks.

"Uh ... We love watching movies, going to the movies, or at home, we are all fans of Doctor Who and everyone likes it and we watch it together" Brian says.

"Yes, we know from your posts" Melanie points out "and you Chrissie?"

"I like reading a lot, mainly science fiction, since I was very young" says Mrs. May "I also like to listen to music."

"Only Queen or other bands?" asks Melanie.

"Oh of course I love the boys' work" Chrissie laughs sweetly !but I have a varied taste, I like the Beatles a lot, Earth Wind and Fire, Jacksons 5, Fleetwood Mac, a little bit of The Who ... To name something more modern, Walk the Moon, Owl City, Boyce Avenue, Mumford and Sons."

"You both like the Beatles, don't you?" Melanie mentions it "what's your favorite song from them?"

"Ah very difficult to choose" Brian grimaces, undecided "but I like "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and George Harrison, in general."

"Yes, guitarists have to stick together" Melanie smiles.

"That's right" Brian agrees.

"And Mrs. May?" Melanie questions her again.

"Ah I tried to think while Bri answered" confesses Chrissie, amused "well, I think I'll go with "Hey Jude", it's a song that always raises my spirits, a comfort song, but I have to mention "Yesterday", "Hello Goodbye", ah i love "Hello Goodbye" and "Let it Be". And "Blackbird", all of those."

"Many works by McCartney, your favorite Beatle?" asks Melanie.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah" Chrissie nods several times, looking embarrassed.

"Well, I think our time is running out" warns Melanie to the interviewees "and I'm going to take the opportunity to ask the question I mentioned at the beginning. We talked about several facts, things that involve your relationship, some adversities, and with all of that you are firm and strong. So, again, what is your secret? After so long, what do you reflect on and realize that keeps your relationship going on?"

"Oh, the most difficult question for the end" Brian comments and Chrissie laughs softly "well, do you want to answer first, my sweet lady?"

"Oh Brian ..." Chrissie blushes with the nickname "well, it may be a bit cliché what I'm going to say, but I believe that, personally, first of all, we really love each other, I'm sure Brian is the love of my life and I am the love of his life, but in order not to be alone in romance, I think our secret is understanding, empathy, we understand each other, we know each other very well, and we manage to put ourselves in each other's place, always, I think that's it and the love that makes us that way."

"I couldn't answer better" Brian smiles at his wife and holds her hand "that's exactly how I feel and, besides, I want to add, no one else would understand me like Chrissie, she is the one who brings balance to my life, that makes me appreciate the simple things, that reminds me of what really matters, in the middle of this stardom life, she sees much more than the guitarist of Queen, she understands who I am as a man, as a father, as husband, as a worker, with all my faults and qualities and I am extremely grateful to God for having found her."

"Me too" Mrs. May smiles, drying up some of the tears that have appeared in the corner of her eye.

"We couldn't have finished in the best possible way" Melanie comments "it's beautiful to see your love, congratulations on your 45 years together, may many and many more come."

"Thank you" Chrissie thanks her.

"Thanks" Brian is also grateful.

"Thanks so much to Brian and Chrissie May and everyone who accompanied us here" Melanie ends the show.

The camera closes on Chrissie and Brian, who look at each other in love.

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I barely have words, really. That was my tribute to you, to my favorite ship Brissie, and to the end of this whole PODC universe that I created. As I said at other times, I never thought that things would expand so much, but here we are, and I just have to thank you very, very much, for liking and supporting my stories. But anyway, this is the end of the main story arc. Of course, we continue with more of that universe in "Life goes on", but here we also mark the transition from Chrissie, Brian and Queen to Louisa, Gwilym and Bo Rhap Boys. We will still see more of Brissie and Queen, but less often. Anyway, THANK YOU REALLY, GUYS! I love you and see you next time.


End file.
